WorkSafeBC clearance letter check.

What the nine statuses mean

WorkSafeBC’s page explains each message a letter can carry:

• Active and in good standing, with advance clearance. The firm is current and meets the criteria for GoldStar clearance.
• Active and in good standing. The firm is current, but clearance is valid only until the date of the firm’s last payment (unless it holds GoldStar status).
• Cancelled and in good standing. No premiums are owed through the cancellation date; WorkSafeBC cannot comment beyond it.
• Active and delinquent or cancelled and delinquent. The firm owes premiums, and WorkSafeBC warns you could be held responsible for premiums related to your contract.
• Recently registered. WorkSafeBC cannot comment yet because the first payment is not due; check back when the due date has passed.
• Recently registered and subsequently cancelled. Check again at the beginning of the next month.
• Active and not reported. The firm has not submitted year-end payroll, so WorkSafeBC cannot determine whether it paid the correct premiums.
• Unable to comment. Transactions are not fully processed; allow several days and try again, or call the Employer Service Centre.

Why the payment date matters

The phrase to look for is “valid only until the date of the firm’s last payment”. A good-standing letter is a snapshot up to the last payment, not a promise about the rest of your job. If the work will run past that date, plan to check again. Firms with GoldStar clearance can show advance clearance, which is why the first status above exists. This page does not state how far ahead that extends because the pages read do not say.

Letters you cannot get online

WorkSafeBC lists four letters that need a phone call or fax instead of the online application: a letter confirming a firm is not registered, a clearance for a limited period of time, a clearance that needs project or file numbers or comments about the firm, and a clearance when buying a firm’s assets. For help it points to its Employer Service Centre.

A worked example (hypothetical)

An owner hires three BC trades for a renovation and has each firm’s account number from their invoices. One is six digits, one is nine digits and one is missing, so the owner types that firm’s exact legal name. The owner searches all three in one go. Two come back “active and in good standing”; the third reads “active and delinquent”. The owner holds payment to the third and asks it to resolve its account before paying, because WorkSafeBC says the owner could be held responsible for premiums related to the contract.

If the third had instead said “recently registered”, the owner would diarise a check after the first payment is due. Every name and number here is invented.

Common mistakes

Searching by a brand name rather than the exact legal or trade name is the most common cause of no result. Another is reading “in good standing” as a clean bill of health forever. A third is forgetting that “active and not reported” is not a pass: WorkSafeBC says it cannot determine whether the right premiums were paid.

Who this is for

Owners, general contractors, property managers and bookkeepers in British Columbia who pay subcontractors and want to know whether WorkSafeBC says they are in good standing.

What this page does not cover

• It does not run a search or hold any WorkSafeBC data; the official application does that.
• It does not state a format for the letter itself, which WorkSafeBC does not publish. The only number format given is the account number: six or nine digits.
• It does not cover Ontario, Alberta or other provinces; see the related tools.
• It is not legal advice on liability.